Roller board

ABSTRACT

A roller board including a board and two or more downwardly-disposed roller assemblies mounted on the board. Each roller assembly has an annular retaining collar with a spherical recess, a plurality of bearings seated within the recess, and a spherical roller ball rotatably seated in the recess in contact with the bearings. A stabilizer assembly is mounted between the roller assemblies to give lateral stability, and a false axle is provided in each of the roller assemblies for imparting increased friction upon contact with the roller ball. The false axle imparts a higher coefficient of friction on hard cornering, thereby simulating “carving” or digging in the edges of a snow board. The foregoing features combine to exactly simulate the sensation of using a snow board on snow.

[0001] The present invention derives its priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/208,228 filed on May 31, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the invention

[0003] The present invention relates to sport boards, and moreparticularly, to a roller board design that simulates a snow boardingexperience on hard terrain.

[0004] 2. Description of the Background

[0005] In 1965 Sherman Poppen developed a simple wooden board with arope tied to the bow, and he named it the “snurfer.” The developmentcame as the result of Mr. Poppen's love for surfing. He wanted tocontinue his hobby in the winter months, and the snurfer gave that samesensation on snow. Mr. Poppen began selling commercially, found somesuccess, and as a result he is widely credited with the invention ofsnow boarding. In these early days the evolution of snow boarding wasvery slow. In 1979 Jake Burton Carpenter began making fiberglass snowboards, and he added bindings to help control the board. In the 1980'ssteel edges were added, and high-backed bindings soon followed to givemore control on hard packed snow. As the sport and equipment became morerefined, the popularity rose. Finally, about fifteen years ago winterresorts began letting snow boarders on their slopes, and this fueled thecurrent snow board explosion. It is estimated that there are now aboutfour million snow boarders. It has become an Olympic sport and a billiondollar industry. Unfortunately, it is a seasonal industry in moststates. In much the same tradition as Sherman Poppen, there are manysnow boarders who would like to continue their winter hobby in thewarmer months. Ski boarding is a summer alternative, but the dynamics oftraditional ski boarding are very different from snow boarding. Turningon a snow board is a gradual process during which the degree of forwardfriction can be controlled by “carving” or digging in the edges. A skiboarder, on the other hand, has no control over the amount of friction.

[0006] There has been one known prior effort to refine the design of astandard ski board carriage to simulate snow boarding. U.S. Pat. No.5,673,941 discloses a roller ski board having a plurality of wheel pairspivotally mounted under the board body. The wheel pairs result in anarcuate contact with the ground to achieve edging effects similar to anordinary snow ski board. While the objective is admirable, the use ofwheels inevitably sacrifices control over lateral friction. Wheels weremeant to go in one direction: forward.

[0007] It is would be greatly advantageous to provide a roller boardthat more nearly simulates the feel of a snow board on snow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide aroller board for hard-terrain use that closely simulates the feel of asnow board on snow.

[0009] It is another object to provide a roller board as described abovewhich uses roller-balls rather than wheels to allow for lateral slip.

[0010] It is another object to provide a roller board as described abovewhich incorporates a lateral damping mechanism to damp excessive lateralslip, thereby simulating “carving” or digging in the edges of a snowboard.

[0011] It is still another object to provide a lateral stabilizer tosimulate the compressive sensation as the edges of a snow board are duginto the snow.

[0012] In accordance with the above-described and other objects, thepresent invention provides a roller board including a board and two ormore downwardly-disposed roller assemblies mounted on the board. Eachroller assembly has an annular retaining collar with a spherical recess,a plurality of bearings seated within the recess, and a spherical rollerball rotatably seated in the recess in contact with the bearings. Astabilizer assembly is mounted between the roller assemblies, thestabilizer comprising a downwardly extending truck secured to the boardand having a pair of wheels mounted thereon. In addition, a false axleis provided in each of said roller assemblies. Each false axle includesan axle snubber mounted within the spherical recess of the annularretaining collar for imparting increased friction upon contact with saidroller ball. The axle snubber is preferably mounted on an adjustmentscrew and lock nut to allow adjustment of the degree of frictionimparted upon the roller ball. The false axle imparts a highercoefficient of friction, thereby simulating “carving” or digging in theedges of a snow board. This exactly simulates the compressive sensationas the edges of a snow board are dug into the snow.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Other objects, features, and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiment and certain modifications thereof when takentogether with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an individual making use of theroller board 2 according to the present invention.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the roller board 2 as inFIG. 1.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the roller board 2 as inFIGS. 1 and 2.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a side cross-section of an exemplary roller 12 as inFIGS. 2 and 3.

[0018]FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of an exemplary half-rollerhousing 22 as in FIG. 4, with enlarged bubble illustrations of anexemplary damper bushing insert 22 and bearing insert 32.

[0019]FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the half-roller housing22 as in FIG. 5.

[0020]FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are a top view, side view, and front view,respectively, illustrating a roller board configuration incorporatingthree evenly-spaced rollers 12.

[0021]FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are a top view, side view, and front view,respectively, illustrating a roller board configuration with two pair oftandem rollers 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an individual making use of theroller board 2 according to the present invention. The roller board 2generally includes two downwardly-disposed roller assemblies 12 that arepermanently attached to a wood or fiberglass foot board 14. The rollerboard 2 is intended to be used on the same terrain as any skate board,inclusive of asphalt, concrete and other hard terrain. The rollerassemblies 12 are extremely durable, much more so than most skate boardskates, and they stand up well to extreme use.

[0023]FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the roller board 2 as inFIG. 1. In all respects, board 14 is a conventional snow board and thetop may be left bare or mounted with standard snow board bindings foruse with specialized boots. Each roller assembly 12 generally comprisesan annular retaining collar 16 in which a spherical roller ball 18 isseated for uni-directional rotation.

[0024]FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the roller board 2 as inFIGS. 1 and 2. The retaining collars 16 encompass the bulk of the rollerballs 18, and consequently the roller balls 18 are loosely butirremovably captured in the respective retaining collars 16. One rollerassembly 12 is mounted toward the front of board 14 (preferablycorresponding to the front foot placement atop the board), and oneroller assembly 12 is mounted toward the rear of board 14 (preferablycorresponding to the rear foot placement). A stabilizer 15 is mountedcentrally between the two roller assemblies 12. Stabilizer 15 generallyincludes a downwardly extending truck 35 secured to the board 14 andhaving a horizontal axle 36 with distally-mounted wheels 37. Stabilizer15 may comprise a conventional skate board skate inclusive of truck 35,wheels 37, bearings and associated mounting hardware (not shown).However, it is important that the wheels 37 should protrude downward towithin approximately 2 mm of the floor when rollers 18 are makingcontact. The exact offset adjusts lateral stability and is largely amatter of user preference.

[0025]FIG. 4 is a front cross-section of an exemplary roller 12 as inFIGS. 2 and 3. It can be seen that the retaining collar 16 encompassesapproximately 210° of the roller ball 18, thereby capturing the ball 18.Each roller ball 18 is preferably formed of a hard shatter-proof resinsuch as the phenol-formaldehyde Bakelite™. The retaining collars 16 andinner components of the roller assemblies will now be described.

[0026]FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of an exemplary half-rollerhousing 22 a as in FIG. 4, with enlarged bubble illustrations of anexemplary damper bushing insert 23 and bearing insert 32. Twohalf-roller housings 22 a and 22 b are secured together to form anannular whole, and the two halves are similarly machined to conservecosts. The half-roller housings 22 a and 22 b are machined aluminum witha durable polished exterior, and when brought together the halves form aspherically recessed interior. The interior surfaces of the half-rollerhousings 22 a and 22 b are machined at three 120° intervals to seatthree ball transfers 45. The ball transfers 45 arecommercially-available bearing assemblies each including a hardened ½″steel ball bearing partially enclosed in a flanged retainer. The threemachined recesses in the interior surfaces of the half-roller housings22 a and 22 b are as shown in the enlarged bubble illustration at thetop right, and include a cylindrical bore that provides recessed seatingof the ball transfers 45. The cylindrical bore is two-tiered to seat theball transfer 45 by its flange, thereby exposing the steel ball bearingtoward the roller ball 18. In order to properly machine at three 120°intervals, two of the recesses are machined into one half-rollerhousings 22 a, and one into the other. All of the recesses are machinedat 45° angles with respect to horizontal to provide stable three-pointsupport for the roller ball 18. This configuration provides a solidfoundation for roller ball 18, and yet the roller ball 18 is able torotate in a substantially frictionless setting. As a result, the rollerboard 2 rolls comfortably over rough and hard terrain. The roller-balls18 (as opposed to wheels) are uni-directional and allow for lateralslip, thereby closely simulating the feel of a snow board on snow.However, to attain true realism it is necessary to incorporate a lateraldamping mechanism to damp excessive lateral slip, thereby simulating“carving” or digging in the edges of a snow board. This is accomplishedwith a series of “false axles” each comprised of an axle snubber 62,snubber adjustment screw 64 and adjustment screw lock nut 66. Eachroller housing 22 includes two false axles, one in each half-rollerhousing 22 a and 22 b. The false axles are seated in side-bores 68drilled laterally into the half-roller housings 22 a and 22 b. Theside-bores 68 each include a wider inner recess in the surface of thehalf-roller housing 22 leading to a narrower through-bore penetratingoutward. The wider inner recess of side-bores 68 is designed to seat anaxle snubber 62 shown at the top left bubble enlargement of FIG. 5. Eachaxle snubber 62 is an open-faced plastic washer having a recess on oneside for seating a adjustment screw lock nut 66, and a closed concaveface on the other said to conform to the arc of the roller ball 18. Theaxle snubber 62 sits flush inside the half-roller housing 22, theadjustment screw lock nut 66 sits flush in the axle snubber 62. A setscrew 64 is threaded through the adjustment screw lock nut 66 andoutward through the through-bore penetrating the half-roller housing 22.This way, the axle snubber 62 is adjustable outward against the rollerball 18 via set screw 64. In operation, the foregoing lateral dampingmechanism serves to damp excessive lateral slip, kicking in during hardturns when the roller ball 18 is forced against a side-mounted falseaxle. The false axle imparts a higher coefficient of friction, therebysimulating “carving” or digging in the edges of a snow board. Thisexactly simulates the compressive sensation as the edges of a snow boardare dug into the snow.

[0027]FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of a half-roller housing 22as in FIG. 5. This illustrates a pair of spaced through-bores 72 on eachside of each half-roller housing 22 through which set screws areinserted to secure the halves together.

[0028] Having now fully set forth the preferred embodiment and theconcept underlying the present invention, various other embodiments aswell as certain variations and modifications of the embodiments hereinshown and described will obviously occur to those skilled in the artupon becoming familiar with said underlying concept.

[0029] For example, FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are a top view, side view, andfront view, respectively, illustrating a roller board configurationincorporating three evenly-spaced rollers 12.

[0030]FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are a top view, side view, and front view,respectively, illustrating a roller board configuration with two pair oftandem rollers 12.

[0031] It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention may bepracticed otherwise than as specifically set forth in the appendedclaims:

I claim:
 1. A roller board, comprising: a board; at least twodownwardly-disposed roller assemblies mounted on said board, each rollerassembly further comprising an annular retaining collar defining aspherical recess, a plurality of bearings seated within the recess, anda spherical roller ball rotatably seated in the recess of each of theretaining collars in contact with said plurality of bearings.
 2. Theroller board according to claim 1 , further comprising a stabilizerassembly mounted between the at least two roller assemblies, saidstabilizers comprising a downwardly extending truck secured to saidboard and having a pair of wheels mounted thereon.
 3. The roller boardaccording to claim 1 , further comprising a false axle in each of saidroller assemblies, said false axles including an axle snubber mountedwithin the spherical recess of the annular retaining collar forimparting increased friction upon contact with said roller ball.
 4. Theroller board according to claim 3 , wherein said false axles furtherinclude an adjustment screw and lock nut for adjusting the degree offriction imparted upon said roller ball.
 5. A roller board, comprising:a board; three downwardly-disposed roller assemblies mounted in-line onsaid board, each roller assembly further comprising an annular retainingcollar defining a spherical recess, a plurality of bearings seatedwithin the recess, and a spherical roller ball rotatably seated in therecess of each of the retaining collars in contact with said pluralityof bearings.
 6. A roller board, comprising: a board; a pair of twodownwardly-disposed tandem roller assemblies mounted on said board, eachtandem roller assembly further comprising an annular retaining collardefining a pair of side-by-side spherical recesses, a plurality ofbearings seated within each of said recesses, and a plurality ofspherical roller balls each rotatably seated in a corresponding recessin said retaining collars in contact with said plurality of bearings.